perf tools: Enable overwrite settings

This patch allows following config terms and option:

Globally setting events to overwrite;

  # perf record --overwrite ...

Set specific events to be overwrite or no-overwrite.

  # perf record --event cycles/overwrite/ ...
  # perf record --event cycles/no-overwrite/ ...

Add missing config terms and update the config term array size because
the longest string length has changed.

For overwritable events, it automatically selects attr.write_backward
since perf requires it to be backward for reading.

Test result:

  # perf record --overwrite -e syscalls:*enter_nanosleep* usleep 1
  [ perf record: Woken up 2 times to write data ]
  [ perf record: Captured and wrote 0.011 MB perf.data (1 samples) ]
  # perf evlist -v
  syscalls:sys_enter_nanosleep: type: 2, size: 112, config: 0x134, { sample_period, sample_freq }: 1, sample_type: IP|TID|TIME|CPU|PERIOD|RAW, disabled: 1, inherit: 1, mmap: 1, comm: 1, enable_on_exec: 1, task: 1, sample_id_all: 1, exclude_guest: 1, mmap2: 1, comm_exec: 1, write_backward: 1
  # Tip: use 'perf evlist --trace-fields' to show fields for tracepoint events

Signed-off-by: Wang Nan <wangnan0@huawei.com>
Tested-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
Acked-by: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>
Cc: Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@kernel.org>
Cc: Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>
Cc: Nilay Vaish <nilayvaish@gmail.com>
Cc: Zefan Li <lizefan@huawei.com>
Cc: pi3orama@163.com
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/1468485287-33422-14-git-send-email-wangnan0@huawei.com
Signed-off-by: He Kuang <hekuang@huawei.com>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>

1 files changed, 14 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt
index 5b46b1d1a37c..384c630436f8 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-record.txt
@@ -367,6 +367,20 @@ options.
 'perf record --dry-run -e' can act as a BPF script compiler if llvm.dump-obj
 in config file is set to true.
 
+--overwrite::
+Makes all events use an overwritable ring buffer. An overwritable ring
+buffer works like a flight recorder: when it gets full, the kernel will
+overwrite the oldest records, that thus will never make it to the
+perf.data file.
+
+When '--overwrite' and '--switch-output' are used perf records and drops
+events until it receives a signal, meaning that something unusual was
+detected that warrants taking a snapshot of the most current events,
+those fitting in the ring buffer at that moment.
+
+'overwrite' attribute can also be set or canceled for an event using
+config terms. For example: 'cycles/overwrite/' and 'instructions/no-overwrite/'.
+
 SEE ALSO
 --------
 linkperf:perf-stat[1], linkperf:perf-list[1]